White Sox rout Dodgers in Cactus League opener

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Tyler Flowers homered in his second at-bat, third-place hitter Alex Rios hit a double down each line, and Dylan Axelrod pitched three strong innings as the White Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-0 in their Cactus League opener on Saturday afternoon.

The Sox banged out 14 hits and scored a run in each of the first two innings against Dodgers ace lefty Clayton Kershaw. Gordon Beckham doubled in a run against Kershaw and Dayan Viciedo singled in two runs in the third inning.

Axelrod struck out four, walked none and allowed one hit. Facing mostly Sox pitching prospects, the Dodgers had three hits.

Flowers, who has the unenviable task of making fans get over the loss of fan-favorite A.J. Pierzynski, downplayed the homer to left field against Stephen Fife, which Beckham called one of the hardest hit balls he's seen.

"It was an OK at-bat,'' Flowers said. "I had a couple of not-good takes and didn't really see it really well except for a couple of pitches. The result is good but there is definitely more work to be done.''

Axelrod, who started seven games last year, knows making the team will be tough.

"We're very deep,'' he said.

The two teams meet agains Sunday at Camelback Ranch.Sox right-hander Erik Johnson, ranked by Baseball America as the Sox' No. 4 prospect, gets the start against Zack Greinke. Only prospects are slated to pitch for the Sox.